Historic Environment Scotland’s Retrofit Project Halted

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30 July 2024

Plans to find a new home for Historic Environment Scotland’s archives have been halted due to the rising cost of materials and labour.

Archive House, an existing building in the Sherwood Industrial Estate in Bonnyrigg was set to be retrofitted to become a world-class facility to house the archives, which includes over 3,500 different collections, comprising drawings, photographs, documents, prints and tomes stretching across 15km of shelving.

However, due to escalating costs and project timelines, Historic Environment Scotland (HES) has decided to revise its approach and not proceed with the Archive House project in its current form, focussing on a more immediate solution to address the need to relocate its collections from John Sinclair House in Edinburgh before October 2026.

The redevelopment was to be project managed by Gleeds, designed by Oberlanders, with specialist engineering input from Buro Happold and civil, structural and geo-environmental services from Curtins.

“We are committed to the long-term stewardship of the wonderful national resource that is our archive,” said Craig Mearns, Interim Chief Executive of HES. “While we are disappointed to have to step back from the project as originally conceived, our priority at this time is delivering an appropriate interim solution.”

Picture: a render showing the previously proposed retrofitted building at Archive House. Image Credit: Oberlanders Architects

Article written by Ella Tansley | Published 30 July 2024

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